Uh-huh. And those are just some of the easier ones. If you couldn’t answer any or even all of them, you may need to brush up on your green gab vocabulary. Knowing what these and other sustainability terms refer to can hold the key to:

Taking advantage of tax incentives and market trends;

Raising capital from investors;

Complying with new state and federal regulations; and

Successfully marketing your products and services to a growing number of consumers who are purposefully purchasing environmentally friendly products.

For the record, “cap-and-trade” refers to the federally-mandated environmental policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. LEED is an acronym for the Leadership in energy and Environmental Design green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, which provides certification standards for environmentally sustainable construction. SROI is short for Social Return on Investment, a measurement describing the social impact of dollars invested in a non-profit or for-profit business. And “triple bottom line” refers to a business concept that measures a company’s success in terms of the three P’s – people, planet and profit.

These and many other widely used sustainability words and phrases are available for your reference in a free publication entitled Green Gab: A Glossary of Terms used in Green Business. This guide is designed to help entrepreneurs become more familiar with the basic terms and concepts of the green economy.

Doing so can help you communicate more effectively about the social and environmental impacts of your business, as well as provide you with a firm understanding of terms that will help you secure funding and endorsements for your green business proposals.

It could also make you more aware of important issues vital to the success of your business. To get your free copy of Green Gab right now, simply click here.

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Robert Stricklin is an author and free lance writer whose articles, short stories, critiques and commentaries have appeared in more than 100 publications. His latest book is Profits of Doom: Milking the Apocalyptic Cash Cow For All It’s Worth, a humorous study of End Times marketing. A native New Yorker, he now resides in South Florida with his wife. Contact Bob at rms555@comcast.net.